Browsing Category : Repairs

What I learned at Oshkosh 2023


Another interesting and fun year at AirVenture, punctuated with beer, learning, and soaking up the experience with like-minded folks. Speaking of learning, thanks to DanH for his training on the Spotted Cow tap and for organizing another great evening with RV builders. Now on to what else I learned: Vic Syracuse (Base Leg Aviation) I ran into Vic while he…

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Garmin Kavlico Sensor Failure Replacements


I struggled to find a simple guide to understand the various Kavlico sensors and relevant service bulletins, here is my consolidation of that information. Relevant Links: The issue was outlined by Larry, N38LA (RV-10) back in 2020 on this VansAirforce post: Link The Garmin Service Bulletin: Link The Dynon Service Bulletin: Link The Van’s Service Bulletin: Link Original Sensors on…

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Oh f*ck, found a big oil leak


There were many swear words falling from my mouth as I removed the cowl to begin my annual condition inspection and I saw a lot of oil on the bottom of the cowl (sorry I failed to take a picture) and on the top of the airbox. Not good. It looked like a classic crankshaft seal failure. First call was…

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Repairing the Cowling Nose Gear Slot


I had help with the engine cowling during constructions and unfortunately the nose gear gap was cut off center and larger than necessary. So back during construction I fabricated a repair using epoxy and flox. Pretty dumb of me to think that the small amount of surface area (I did sand the fiberglass cowling at an angle) would be sufficient…

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What I learned at Oshkosh 2022


Admittedly I did not attend many forums this year. I only attended the show for three days and there is just so much to see… But I did have a few takeaways: Vic Syracuse (Base Leg Aviation) Change auto spark plugs every 100 hours or annually (I have been following P-Mag recommendation of 125 hours) Mouse milk lube exhaust at…

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Whelp, that sucks.


So during my condition inspection I made a bad decision. I used a block of wood in between my wing jack and my wing, and that block did not match the shape of the jack stand. Lowering the jack the block rotated and flipped out putting two small dents in the bottom of my wing. Fuck me. My fault, dumb…

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The finish line is in sight!


Work continued and the day before our haul out we moved to a motel for the last two nights. Ah showers and air conditioning. Funny story – Jack and I had checked out a couple places and actually had reserved one that looked okay. Later that day Jack found a better spot and canceled the first motel and while there…

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Welcome to Puerto Penasco


The passage past smoothly and come daylight we could see the finish line, Puerto Penasco. We even managed some motorsailing with the engines pulled way back. An attempt was made at sailing but as per usual this only lasted a short time. All in all, a nice way to close out the season. Huge tidal swings occur in Penasco so…

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The party continues!


Work before play – I had to replace the anchor light fixture. So first thing in the morning up Jack and Shalise hoisted me. One hell of an arm work out holding myself up with one arm while soldering the connectors with my other. Whew! But we now have a working anchor light again! Who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt?…

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